


The Team Competition and Individual Event Finals

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [70]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-11 21:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were family and this was going to be fun.  That didn’t mean that Hotch wasn’t his target as of right now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Team Competition and Individual Event Finals

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe where the BAU are kids and teens.

“The rules never change…the last team standing wins. No rough housing and no double teaming. No trickery to take anyone down; fair and square at all times or you're out. Any questions?”

“Where are safe and the boundaries?” Penelope asked.

“The side deck is safe as always.” Jason replied. “We have the whole backyard and around to the front steps. Safe can't be used as a way to avoid capture.”

“Then why call it safe?” Ashley asked wearing a skeptical face. To be seven years old the kid had one of the best skeptical faces ever.

“It means you’re always safe as long as you're up there.” Morgan said. “You may need to tie a shoe, be out of breath, or even be hurt. It’s the place you go when the game is off for a little while. 90 seconds top before you're out.”

“Everyone pick teams.” Jason said.

“Hotch!”

“Prentiss!”

They shouted at the same time and Emily cheered. Jason did his best not to roll his eyes. Just once it would be nice to play side by side with his girlfriend. She always chose her twin; hadn't thought of him once from the first time she played outside the old apartment. 

He didn’t want to be jealous because that was stupid. Of course jealousy was never a rational emotion. He just smiled and let it go. They were family and this was going to be fun. That didn’t mean that Hotch wasn’t his target as of right now.

“Wonder Twins power, activate!” they exclaimed in unison as they bumped fists.

“Oh please.” JJ did roll her eyes. Then she put her hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Don’t worry Gideon, I got your back. We’re taking them down.”

“Only if you play fair.” Jason said.

“Ouch, you cut me all deep and stuff. I got this bro.”

“Well you know it’s always me and my baby girl.” Morgan said grinning.

“I remain eternally faithful to my Odysseus of the water wars.” Penelope said.

“That leaves Team Munchkin.” Emily looked at Spencer and Ashley.

“We’re gonna kick butt.” Ashley put on her tough scowl as she bent to double tie her Chuck Taylor lookalike sneakers.

“I'm taking down Morgan.” Spencer said nodding.

“Oh kid, it’s good to have dreams.” Morgan replied.

“It's gonna happen this time. I have a plan.”

“Spencer has a plan.” Hotch said wearing his normally serious face. “Watch your back, Morgan.”

Jason handed out the vests. He and JJ took red, Hotch and Prentiss wanted blue, Morgan and Garcia had yellow, and Spencer and Ashley were left with orange. The vests were bright white with a large colored reflector in the middle. When hit with the appropriate amount of water, the reflector blinked and the person was out. Penelope actually made the vests herself last summer though she admitted that Kevin made the reflectors. As soon as everyone was dressed to go and JJ finished packing her weaponry (she took the game seriously) Jason held out his hand.

“OK everybody, family on three.”

“1, 2, 3…FAMILY!”

“Kickass!” JJ exclaimed, pumping her fist.

“Language.” Jason and Emily said in unison.

“My bad. But I'm officially done talking to you, Emily Prentiss. Let the best girl win.”

“I will!” Ashley said.

They all laughed. Jason declared game on and they scattered all over the yard. These games could last a couple of hours and it was just dusk in the nation’s capital. It was time to have some fun.

***

“I did it!” Spencer exclaimed jumping up and down. He pushed his glasses up on his face so they wouldn’t fall on the ground. “I did it! I did it!”

“The Force is strong inside of you, young one.” Morgan put his hand on top of Reid’s brown hair. “Gimme some skins, little dude.”

Spencer slapped his hand on Morgan’s. He couldn’t believe it but he’d actually taken his big brother down. It took conquering three of his greatest fears, heights, darkness, and fear itself but he did it. Placing himself strategically on a tree limb, Spencer waited for Morgan to come by. 

When he did, Spencer just swung down. Hanging from the limb by his legs, he sprayed Morgan for dear life. The older boy took it like a man. He gave Spencer the respect due to the victor.

“That was so awesome.” Emily said swinging her bare legs and feet over the banister. Hotch was sitting next to her and she put her arm around him. “Team Wonder Twins, undefeated for all time. Listen to that sound people. Do you hear it? It’s the sound of fascination and awe.”

“You suck.” JJ stuck out her tongue. “I’d like to state for the record though that it was Jason and not I who got lit up.”

“So noted.” Jason said.

“My first tag was wicked.” Ashley smiled. Jason pulled one of her pigtails and she smiled some more. “Spencer, I say we get Team Munchkin tee shirts.”

“OK.” Spencer nodded.

“I’ll make them.” Penelope said. “How do you guys feel about red, white, and blue glitter?”

“I like it.” Ashley replied.

“I wonder if Megan might like to play with us one of these days.” Hotch said. “She’d love it I think.”

“Whoa, you cannot break up the Wonder Twins.” Emily took her arm from around him.

“I never said anything about breaking up the Wonder Twins. That isn’t going to happen. The circle must remain unbroken.”

“That’s what I'm saying.” She nodded.

“What are you two even talking about?” Jason asked.

“Studies show that often twins have their own language or sentence structures.” Spencer replied.

“But they're not really twins.” Ashley said.

“Bite your tongue, young Seaver.” Hotch said.

“Megan wouldn’t want to be paired with you?” Morgan asked.

“I think she’d relish the opportunity to douse me. She definitely has a competitive streak.”

“Nine is an odd number.” Penelope said. “She’d need a partner.”

“We can invite Will to play.” JJ suggested. “He and Megan would be cool. LaMontagne's got a secret sneaky side that I happen to like very much. But we couldn't be partnered together cuz it wouldn’t be fair to you mere mortals.”

“Yeah right.” Morgan smirked.

“They're trying to take us down, Hotch.”

“If they do it’s his fault.” Morgan pointed to his older brother. “He's the one who suggested Megan. Just remember that.”

“Who wants ice cream?” Jason asked as he stood up.

Everyone said yeah, getting excited. There was a half gallon of golden vanilla and one of cookies and cream from the supermarket yesterday afternoon.

“Do we have chocolate syrup?” Ashley asked. “I want some chocolate syrup.”

“I'm not sure,” Emily said. “I know there's definitely caramel though. C'mon guys, lets eat.”

They all bum rushed the sliding door, nearly knocking Jason down. All he could do was laugh. Family time like this made him high. Not that he knew what drugs felt like but he was never as happy anywhere as he was with his family. He loved the noise, the playful name calling, the water everywhere, the way Ashley made silly ninja sounds when she attacked. 

He even loved the Wonder Twins unbeaten streak. Remembering how Hotch treated Emily when she first came to live with them, seeing them as close as twins was nothing short of a miracle. He still wished he could be partnered with his girlfriend once in a while. He guessed that all the rest of the time they spent together would have to make up for it.

***

“Come in!” Emily called out to whoever was knocking on her closed door.

“Hey, I was wondering…” Jason stopped as he walked in and saw her.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

“You're um…”

Emily was wearing nothing but a pair of blue bikini panties with yellow stars and a Superman baby doll tee. She was sitting in her window seat smoking a clove.

“I usually wait till most of the house is asleep to get naked but I just had the urge. You know?”

“Um…” Jason nodded dumbly. Then he closed the door and cleared his throat. “I'm not prepared to argue.”

“That’s why I closed my door.” Emily went back to the window seat. The window was open, she was smoking, and thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. Another storm was coming. Welcome to summer in DC. “What are the troops up to?”

“Well Ashley, Spencer, and Penelope nailed down Morgan to watch , _The Empire Strikes Back_. He couldn't resist Lando and Yoda. JJ is on the phone in her room, hopefully with Will and not with Jake. And Hotch went over to Megan’s. He said he called her twice and didn’t get an answer so he wanted to check in on her. He told me he’d call if he’s gonna stay. And you're…”

“I'm half naked smoking a cigarette.”

“Yes, you are.” Jason nodded as he sat down on her unmade bed. 

Emily’s bed was always unmade…it was just so Emily. She wasn’t a slob but she was no neat freak either. There were clothes on the floor; books and magazines scattered about. But then she did insane things like alphabetize her CDs and always lined up her shoes in the bottom of her closet. It was one of the many reasons Jason loved her. Emily Prentiss could not be placed in a box. She was so many things, all of which were fascinating to him.

“I had such fun tonight.” she said. “It was cool to see Spencer take down Morgan. I can't believe he hung from that tree.”

“Yeah, he must have really, really wanted it. And of course The Wonder Twins winning record is unblemished.”

“They should have water gun fights in the Olympics. Hotch and I would definitely bring home the gold.” Emily smiled.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.”

“How come you never picked me? I mean, I'm not being…well I just wonder…why Hotch?”

“Why Hotch what? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Even in the old apartment, when you two were less than friendly, the first time we played you picked him. I was just wondering why.”

“Oh that’s easy…I didn’t want to play favorites. If I picked you it wouldn’t have been fair. I wanted to pick Spencer but since we were uneven then he opted out. So I thought Hotch mostly because he didn’t like me. Don’t tell anyone but I wasn’t that fond of him either. It’s surely not because I love him more than you.”

“I didn’t…” Jason sighed. “Did I sound like a dumbass Cro-Magnon man?”

“No, Jace.” Emily shook her head. “Hotch is my twin, he’s my brother; he's in my bloodstream. I can't explain it. Morgan is my brother too. Hell, they’re all my siblings and I love them dearly. I love them more than anything or anyone in the world. I love you more than anything or anyone in the world…you're home.”

“Hotch is my best friend. He’s like a brother to me but I think we’re best friends more than siblings. I guess I just don’t quite know what you two are and sometimes I get confused and when you pick him over me I wonder why and I ask.”

“I'm not in love with Hotch.” there was no defense in Emily’s voice when she said it. 

She was just trying to make Jason understand. Sometimes, with all he did and his big ass mind, it could be easy to forget that he was a 19 year old boy. He could be insecure and worried and even jealous. Part of her job as the woman who loved him was to always reassure and comfort him. Emily was perfectly content to do that.

“Oh I know that.” he said a little too loudly. “I mean, I know that. I just don’t always know how to say the things I want to say and I don’t ever want to be that guy who doesn’t want you to care about other guys especially since you have three guys who live in this house and think you're the best big sister in the world. I'm going to stop talking now.”

“We can always find another way to pass the time.” Emily took one last puff of her clove and put it out. She loved the way Jason’s big brown eyes widened as she walked over to the bed.

“Katya…”

“Everyone is downstairs or busy.” She sat down on his lap, running her fingers through his hair.

“And as soon as we start doing something we shouldn’t someone will be at your door.” Jason replied.

“I'm nearly naked Jason. Aren't you excited?”

“Elated is the word I’d choose actually.” He smiled and kissed her. “But there will be time later for us to be alone and…”

“And…?” Emily gave him Eskimo kisses. Then she felt just how excited he was.

“OK, 15 minutes or so wouldn’t hurt.” Jason pushed himself back on the bed with her still in his lap. He loved the squeal of joy Emily made when he rolled them on the bed. “I'm sure the movie has everyone glued to the television.”

“I love you, Jason Gideon.” She lifted his shirt over his head.

“I love you too.”

“I love you more.”

He could argue that point but Jason had better things to do at the moment. He also didn’t have a lot of time to do them. The girl, and yes Emily Prentiss was still a girl, drove him crazy. Jason felt things he never even thought possible because of her. 

He was so in love that he could hardly see straight. It was a feeling that was both amazing and agonizing. He didn’t want to think about anything but amazing right now. It had been a great day, a fun evening, and the night was going to end with a bang.

***


End file.
